My Two Cents: HAUNTRESS by Minetaro Mochizuki
Japan loves its creepy urban legends, almost as much as it loves publishing manga about that same sinister lore. "Hauntress," by writer/artist Minetaro Mochizuki is a great example. Originally published in 1993 under the title "Zashiki Onna," "Hauntress" is the cautionary tale of college student Hiroshi Mori, who unwittingly opens the door to horror when he's awakened one night to frantic pounding on his next-door neighbor's door. When Hiroshi looks out his door in the apartment building, he finds an abnormally tall woman with long, stringy black hair trying to get his neighbor to answer. She's wearing a trench coat and appears disheveled, with tattered stockings and filthy shoes, and is carrying several large sacks with her. She asks Hiroshi if she can use his phone to try and reach the next-door neighbor. Unnerved by her appearance, but nonetheless giving in to common courtesy, Hiroshi agrees. The next day, he's surprised to receive a phone call from the woman, Sachiko, at school. She tells him she forgot one of her bags at his apartment and wants to retrieve it. When he tells her he's at school and can't return to the apartment right now, she becomes irrational, screaming and cursing him.
From there, things only get worse. Whatever obsession Sachiko had harbored toward Hiroshi's neighbor is now fully, relentlessly redirected toward him.
There are plenty of similar urban legends of this vein in Japan, and in manga, too, including "Ibitsu," the Lolita-looking apparition that asks passers-by if they "have a little sister," or the best known, the "Slit-faced Woman," who asks those hapless enough to encounter her if they think she is pretty. In all of these tales, if the victim answers incorrectly, they soon meet with a horrific fate, and in "Hauntress," the same holds true, unfortunately for Hiroshi.
I was surprised to learn that Minetaro Mochizuki is the author behind "Isle of Dogs," which was adapted into a charming stop-motion film version by Wes Anderson in 2018. "Hauntress" is definitely neither charming nor kid-friendly. It's genuinely unsettling, if only because even without the supernatural elements, it's entirely within the realm of possibility that someone could become so fixated on another. It's the perfect quick read to get you in the mood for Halloween.
"Hauntress" is available here.
Comments